Improvement in brick-machines



.j UNITED STATES.

`anRanma BUoKwALTER PATENT OFFICE.

, HENRYl BUOKWALTER, AND' JOSEPH H. BUCK-V WALTER, OF KIMBERTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

nv] PRovEMENT IN BRICK-MACHINES.-

speeiricanon forming part of Lettersratent No. 35,555, dated June 17,1862.

To all` whom it 'may concem.- Be it known that we, ABRAHAM BUcKwAL- TER,`HENRY BUoxwnLTER, and Josnrn: H. BUcKwALrEn, all of Kmberton, in theeonnty of l Chester and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Pressing and Molding Bricks; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, 'making a part of this specification, in whichn 1 y Figure 1 isa side sectional view of our in` vention taken-in the line 00` rv, Fig. 2; Fig.'2 is a horizontalJ section o f the same, taken in a the line zt'rrFig. l. Fig. 3 is atransversever tical sectionof the"same,taken in the, line y y, Fig. 2. Fig. L isa section of the same, taken in the line z z, Fig. 2. Y

t Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts inthelseveral figures.

To enable those skilled inthe art to fully understand and construct -our invention, we n will proceedtto describe it. l t A represents aframing, which may be const ructed in any properway to support 4the working parts ofthe machine, andB is a rectangular box, which isformed of two `permanent sides, om, connected by two end pieces, b b.` The two opposite sides of th'ebox are formed by two molds, G`G,which slide therein in grooves c made inthe sides a a. One of the end pieces b of the box B is rprovided with 4 stopsd to prevent the molds beingshoved too farthrough the grooves when the' former are adjusted in said box. To the outer surfaces of the sides c a of the box there are attached transversely strips e e," one to each side.

Thesestripse are notched at their centers, as`

shown at e' 1in` Fig. 4, and they bear V'against a ffriction-rollen* 1), attached to a spring, E, which is secured tothe framing A. These notched strips e` serve as stops for the box B and retain it so that either mold will be held uppermost, the box B being hung on pivots between parallel arms ff, attached tothe framing A; t This devicevis for sanding'the molds preparatory to thepressing ofthe clay into ment, the roller'D being forced by its spring them, and the `operation is as follows:` TheV ox` B is turned half arevolution at each move E into the notch e' adjoining it, and the oper- :ator shoves the mold into the upper side of the box B, and then turns the box another `'half-revolution and withdraws the mold which `was previously at the under side of box B and inserts another in its place. At each/ movelment or half-revolution of the boxBthe mold lat the bottom is sanded, 'the box B being kept supplied with a requisite quantity of sand. :This device for sanding the molds will be fully gnnderstood by referring to Fig. 4.

l Frepresents a bed or platform on which a lsliding bar, G, is placed longitudinally and tted in suitable guides, g g. This bar G has a short cross-head, h, at its inner end, and at the under side of the bar there is a rack, i, into `which a pinion, H, gears when the bar G is at work. The pinion H is placed on ashaft, I, the inner bearing of which is fitted in a vertical sliding bar, J, which passes up through Y `the platform F and has the upper end of a toggle, K, attached to it, to which toggle a lever, L, is connect bar J will be operated and the pinionH thrown in or out of gearwith `the rack i of bar G', as desired.

is attached by a cord, j, which passes over a pulley, la and when the pinion H is thrown lout of gear wi a is drawn, back by the gravityof said weight, the bar being fed forward by the pinion H, when the latter' is thrown in gear with the `rack of the bar. The shaft Illas a pulley, J', Ton its outer end, around which a belt, K', passes,

L', on a shaft, M', lof the machine, an

its inner end, which gears into/av horizontal lbevel-wheel, m, at the lower end of a vertical shaft, N, which,when the machine is at work, is" connected by a clutch, 0, with a vertical shaft, P, having a pinion, Q, on its upper end, .which gears into awheel, R, on the upper end of a shaft, T., Thisshaft T passes centrally through a cylindrical box or hopper, U,which is placed vertically on the framin ceives the clay to be tempere the molds.

which is the driving-shaft ed, by moving which the Tof the inner end of the bar G a weight, M,

th the rack of bar G the latterk said'belt also passing around a pulley,

dhas a bevel-pinion, Z, aty l On the lower part of shaft T there are se` cured wheels V V, which are provided with spiral arms or flanges n. Six of these arms or flanges are shown to each wheel, but more or` less may be used, and spaces o are allowed between them, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. Two wheels, V V, are also shown attached to the shaft T, but more or less of them may be used. Directly above the lower wheel, V, there is permanently secured in the box U two cross-bars, p p These bars may be connected together at their point of intersection so as to form a hub, q, for the shaft T to pass through loosely, and the bars p are slightly inclined in their transverse section. On the shaft T above the wheels V there are secured a number of horizontal blades or arms, X. (Shown -in Fig. l.)

On the upper part of the framing A there are secured two parallel ways, r r, having rollers s between them. These ways r r arey inline with the bar G on the hed or platform F and in the same horizontal plane with the latter, and said ways extend underneath and beyond the box or hopper to thelend of the framing, the rollers s being underneath the box or hopper.

To the lower part of the box or hopper U there are attached two parallel bars, t t, through which a horizontal rod, u, passe and has upon it between the bars t t a se i s of drops, o, placed loosely, the front ends of which are heavier than the back ends, so that the former will by their own gravity press upon the molds as the latter are discharged from underneath the box or hopper U, said drops being directly over the discharge-open ing at the bottom of the box or hopper. The drops may be either of wood or metal, and loaded at their outer ends, if necessary.

`Y Y represent two ways or guides, which are placed transversely on the framing Aabove the ways r r. On these ways or guides Y Y a reciprocating p laner, Z, is placed, the same consisting of a bar, w, with end pieces attached, between which two rectangular bars, a' a', are secured by pivots, one at eachside of bar lw, and both parallel with it. To the lower outer sides of the bars a' a' there are secured metal plates b', one to each, and the two bars a' are connected at one end by rods c', which cross each other at their upper ends and are secured together by a pin, d', said pin passing through any of a series of holes in said bars. By adjusting the pin el' in different holes the bars a and their plates b' may have a more or less inclined position given them, as may be desired.

A" represents two metal plates or cleaners,

l the ends of which are secured to oblique standards e" at the ends of bars B' B', which are secured at their centers to theframing A by pivots f'. The bars B' are of such a length that there will be a cleaner, A", at each side of the planer Z. The bars B are allowed a slight rocking play or movement under the action of the planer, which has a reciprocating movement given it by a pitman, g', attached to a crunk, h', on a shaft, C', which is driven .by a belt, i', from a shaft, D', rotated by a bevel-pinion, j', from the wheel m of shaft N.

E is a water tank or reservoir provided with a cock, F', to which an elastic tube, G', is attached, leading into a trough, H', on the top of the planer Z, and la represents pipes which extend from said trough downvat each side of the planer to the plates Z1', as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The molds G are sanded by placing them in the box B and turning it half a revolution, as previously described. As a sanded mold is removed from the box B it is placed on the bed or platform F in front of the bar G, the latter being drawn back by its weight M, and when the mold is perfectly adjusted in front of G the operator, by actuating the lever L, throws the pinion H of shaft I in gear with the rack of bar G, and the mold is thereby shoved along nnderneath the box or hopper U and upon the rollers s. As soon as the mold C reaches its proper position underneath the box or hopper U, a pin, ax, which projects from the bar G, strikes the toggle K and throws the pinion H ont of gear with the rack i of bar G, and the weight M then draws bar G back to its original position. YThe mold G, underneath the box or hopper U, has the clay pressed into it by the rotation of the wheels V V, the spiral arms or iianges m of the latter forcing the clay downward and compacting it well into the molds. The blades or arms Xtemper and cnt or grind the moistened, clay kin U, reducing it to a proper state for the molds. The wheels V can only exert a certain pressure on the clay, owing to the spaces o through which the clay is fed .d nto the molds. The stationary cross-bars p serve to prevent the clay being rotated in the box or hopper U under the action of the wheels V. When the mold underneath U is filled, the operator puts another empty mold in front of bar G and actuates lever L, so as to throw the pinion H in gear with the rack of bar G, and the latter again moves forward, and in shoving an empty mold underneath U shoves out the filled mold, which passes underneath the drops t, the latter smoothing the upper surface of the same, and using one or any number of them to admit of the passage of any stones or projecting foreign substances, if the mold should happen to contain such. By this means the molds are prevented from being broken or injured-a contingency which would occur if the molds were forced out under an unyielding plate. The lled mold is then shoved by a succeeding mold passing under U under the planer Z, the plates b' b of the bars c' of which scrape off the surface of the mold both ways from the center outward, thereby performing smooth work-a result which cannotjbe attained by scraping in one way only entirely across the mold, as the scraper will in that case drag the clay away from the edges of the mold. As the planer vibrates it has aslight rocking motion, which is given to it by the pitman g', the latter being permanentlyattached to the former, and this motion causes the Water to flow from the trough H'down through the pipes K' to the mold, the clay therein being moistened, so that the scraping operation "may bey performed smoothly. `The cleaners A" keep the plates b'` `free from clay, the-latter `passing over the former at each vibration of the planer, the tilting or rocking motion of the bars B', produced by the motion of the plates b,"I causing plates as the latter come `in contact with the `iformer, the action" of one plate `b' on its cleaner depressing it and elevating theother, so `that it will be in readiness to clean its plate. -The rotation of the shaft Tmay be stopped `themedium of arod,b and lever c. `We do not claim the `blades or arms X on` `viously used, nor do we claim the rollersfs underneath the box or hopper U; but

` What We doclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters l?atent,` is- 1. The feeding-bar G,provided wit-h the rack `cleaners A" to be presented properly to said at any time by shifting the clutch OX, through the rotatingshaft T, fortheyhave been prei, and having the weight M attached, in combination with the pinion H and toggle K, all

arranged as and for the purpose specified.

2. The drops o, arranged as shown, to yield or give to obstructions in the molds, as the latter are forced out from underneath the box or hopper, as described.

3. The reciprocating-planer Z, providedy with the adjustableplates or Scrapers b' b', to operate as set forth.

4. In combination with the plates b' b', the

clearners A"V A", arranged as -shown,to ope-l irate as and for the purpose specified.

5. The water-tank E' and trough H', the former being connected with the latter by an elastictube, G', and the trough H' provided with pipes k', all arranged, as shown, to operf` ate in connection with the reciprocating for the purpose set forth.

ABRAHAM' ,BUCKWALTER HENRY BUCKWALTER. J O'S. H. BUGKWALTER. `Witnesses:

BENJ. HALLMAN,

J. P. HOLT.

planer Z, 

